港式蘿蔔糕 Cantonese Style Radish Cake

It's been a long time since I've posted anything and I apologize for that, but life has been very busy, which I will try to write about maybe in my next post.

Today, however, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite dishes - the Cantonese Style Radish Cake. This "cake" is a compacted rice flour savory dish that I grew up eating for breakfast. However, you can eat it for whatever meal you like, because it is ultimately more of a snack dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 large Daikon radish
• 2-3 Chinese sausages (there are a few types of flavours, but feel free to use any of them)
• 8-10 Chinese or Shitake mushrooms (I like mushrooms a lot so I tend to put more than other people)
• 100-200 grams of ground pork
• 1 packet of rice flour (make sure it's not sticky rice flour but just regular rice flour)
• Ginger, about the size of your thumb
• 2-3 chopped garlic
• 2 green onions
• 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• Salt, to taste
• 1-2 tbs of oil

The reason the ingredients seem to vary in quantity/weight is because it really depends on the individual how flavourful or plain they like their radish cake to be. The radish cake I grew up with in Taiwan tend to not have anything in them, whereas the Cantonese style radish cake has a lot of ingredients added. So, as long as you can get the final consistency sort of like mud (sorry I really can't think of anything else that accurately describes it), then it really doesn't matter what you put in it.

Directions:

1. Shred the daikon radish using a grater, set aside in bowl
2. Put a little oil in a wok or pan, heat it up first, throw in the garlic, ginger, and green onions, fry for about 1 minute
3. Put the ground pork, sausage, and mushroom in. Stir fry for 4-5 minutes, then add in Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, and salt and continue stirring for another 2 minutes.
4. Finally, add in the daikon radish and stir until fully cooked (about 10-15 minutes, the radish should appear almost transparent when fully cooked). The stir fry would be fairly watery, which is ok.
5. Let chill for half an hour, then mix in the rice flour. Make sure the final consistency is still fairly fluid but quite sticky. (Tip: if you like your radish cake soft and silky, make it more watery; if you like your radish cake to taste fairly carby, then make it thicker) Pour mix in container to steam wish and smooth the top (I usually use a metal dish).
6. Steam for 20-30 minutes, then let cool.

There are a few ways of eating the radish cake, you are welcome to eat it directly after it is cooked, or, we usually keep it in the fridge overnight to fully harden, slice it, then pan fry it and eat with Siracha sauce and cilantro. Enjoy!